You might be shocked to find out the sentence handed to a man with the Instagram handle 'ihackedthegovernment', as pleading guilty to the crime found within his name left him with an unexpected amount of prison time.
Criminals can leave hints to their actions in a wide variety of ways, whether you go for the classic cryptic note employed by infamous figures like the Zodiac Killer, or perhaps you could even leave descriptions of your horrific acts within the lyrics of a song — something that some suspected with the recent arrest of singer D4vd.
The age of social media gives people even more avenues to confess or brag about their crimes, however, and one man did so in a way that couldn't be more obvious by revealing it front and center through his name.
As reported by Ars Technica, 24-year-old Nicholas Moore was the proud owner of an Instagram account with the handle 'ihackedthegovernment', and recently pleaded guilty to, you guessed it, hacking the United States government.
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More specifically, Moore accessed systems linked to various political strands including the Supreme Court, AmeriCorps, and the Department of Veterans Affairs using illegal cybersecurity methods, repeatedly logging in through stolen usernames and passwords back in 2023.
While most hackers are incredibly careful about their digital footprint to obscure their crimes as much as possible, Moore made no effort to hide his actions, proudly displaying screenshots of personal information obtained from his hacking attempts on the aforementioned Instagram account.
You'd be forgiven for imagining that a crime like this would bring a pretty hefty sentence – especially with how he gloated about it online – yet in a shocking turn of events Moore has walked away with zero prison time following the conviction.
He specifically pleaded guilty to a computer fraud misdemeanor charge, which only has a maximum prison sentence of a year alongside fines capping out at $100,000.
It's likely that pleading guilty has helped him in this case, alongside admitting to the judge during the case that he 'made a mistake' and was sorry for his actions, leading the prosecutors to not seek out prison time.
The court deemed Moore unlikely to reoffend following his admissions, with a referral noting that he "is a vulnerable young man with long-term disabilities, limited financial means, and virtually no employment experience or opportunities.
"Moore does not appear to pose a danger to the community and at 25 years old, still has ample time to redirect his interests," it continued.
He was given a year of probation as a result, with no financial penalty alongside this punishment.